Charlotte's Web

I just rented this for my kids (ages 4 & 6) and had completely forgotten that adults can enjoy it, too. I'm quite weary of the obnoxious Disney-fication of most kids movies these days. (Spare me any more simpering princess stories.) The story of the clever spider who tries to save a pig from becoming breakfast meat is a familiar one and can be appreciated by many. The voice talent here is so superb that the movie doesn't make you rue the day they decided to animate the book. The songs aren't overly saccharine and are actually quite catchy. The movie is worth it alone for Templeton's trip to the fair and "a fair is a veritable smorgasbord-orgasbord-orgasbord" song. Debbie Reynolds' Charlotte is warm and wise, Wilber is naive and friendly, and Templeton provides the perfect foil as a spoiled rat who's just in it for himself. Agnes Moorehead as the goose became a sort of comedic extra to make the little ones laugh in the face of the rather adult plot about life and death. Overall, it's a movie for the whole family.

This is a truly wonderful children's movie. It tells the story of some barnyard animals who interact one summer, but gently, and on a level a child can understand, also analyzes some deep truths about life itself.

The story introduces us to a variety of animals (who possess the ability to talk when humans are absent) with unique personalities. One is a frightened pig named Wilbur (voiced by Henry Gibson) who learns his days are numbered in a pig's cruel fate. Another is the scheming and selfish rat Templeton (Paul Lynde in a great comic relief role). Finally, there's Charlotte the spider (Debby Reynolds) who uses the only tool she has at her disposal to try to rescue her friend Wilbur. There are a variety of other amusing creatures in the barnyard, voiced humorously by wonderful actors who are fun to identify as the movie progresses.

Humans have an external role in the action. By that I mean they're on the outside looking in (although there are some subplots about the human characters). Many things that are done by the animals are for the humans' benefit. I love Pamela Ferdin's voice for Wilbur's owner, Fern. Human characters change, like the animals do, in parallel stories that emphasize the story's morals about life. Rex Allen's cool country voice, so familiar from Disney nature movies, is perfect for the narration.

Several of the songs are great, too. The haunting title song is as "lovely and lyrical" as the web it's describing. "Mother Earth and Father Time" beautifully describes the story's main theme. Templeton's mad feast of garbage while singing "At the Fair" is lots of fun.

This is "some terrific, radiant, humble" movie that presents the best of old school cartoon animation. A sweet story of friendship, love, loyalty, and other positive elements. It's being remade as a live action movie, and I'm not certain how that'll translate from animation; but this original version is recommended for fine family viewing.

This animated version of the E.B. White children's classic is short on spectacular animation but long on heart and boasts a wonderful cast of voice talents. Earl Hamner, Jr., of "The Waltons" fame, creates a seamless plot which retains the true flavor of the book while cleverly rearranging the order of events and giving some of the better lines to different characters. The story of Wilbur, the runt pig saved by Fern Arable and later shipped to her Uncle Zuckerman's farm, only to discover that he's slated for the butcher's knife, is lively and fun. Charlotte, the wise and well-spoken spider played wonderfully by Debbie Reynolds, devises a scheme to save Wilbur's life. Henry Gibson is right on as the naive and nervous but generally happy Wilbur. Agnes Moorhead shines as the haughty and stuttering goose: "I'm no flibberty-ibbity gibbet!" Paul Lynde easily steals the show as Templeton, the smarmy barn rat; his late-night gorge-fest at the fair is a hilarious highlight of the movie. The songs written for the movie are a bit on the syrupy side, but Debbie Reynolds' sweet singing voice and some clever, funny lyrics make them bearable to adults.

The book by EB White is a marvellous timeless classic of a book, full of memorable characters and a sweet story. This 1973 animation is a very likable adaptation, and fairly faithful to the book. Of course there are problems- the animation occasionally isn't that great though there are some truly lovely moments, and one or two songs were out of place. Speaking of the songs though, a vast majority of them are lovely, definitely not the Shermann Brothers' best work but not their worst either. The characters are still appealing, Wilbur is adorable, and Fern is very appealing, but for me the scene stealer was Templeton, very funny he was at times. The voice work was fine too, Pamelyn Ferdin was lovely as Fern, and Debbie Reynolds is perfect as Charlotte, a really warm and loving spider that you can't help but love. My final verdict, is that although the book is better, this is still a likable, sweet and well meaning animated adaptation. 8/10 Bethany Cox

So far, I've seen two completely different points of view in the comments for this movie. One was so-so, the other thought it was completely awful. Well, I would like to add a third: I thought it was charming.

"Charlotte's Web" is my absolutely favourite story, and one of the most treasured books in my personal library. This movie, while far from perfect, does stay very true to the original story (which, in case Negative Nellie may have missed, Disney does NOT do -- even though I love Disney, too).

It's true the animation isn't the best, but you have to realize that "Charlotte's Web" was made in 1973, WAAAAAY before the computer-animated wonders of the '80's and '90's. The animation in the '70's was still stuck in the Saturday-morning-cartoon format, where, instead of animating every single cel, the animators would animate every third or fifth cel. It saved time, money, and you still got animation -- just not very sophisticated animation. Disney and Max Fleischer were really the only ones that were trying to push animation beyond the extremely confined limits it was once stuck in. So you can't really fault the movie for that, it was a common fault 20 years ago to get stuck in a rut. (It's still happening today, or hasn't anyone watched "Godzilla", "Armageddon", or "Starship Troopers"? Just because the animation is more advanced doesn't mean that it isn't becoming redundant).

Other than the animation, "Charlotte's Web", taken from a purely entertainment level, is really not that bad. I still enjoy watching this movie, and the voice actors actually closely match the voices I've made in my head for the characters in the book over the years. Especially Templeton. His scene when he comes back from his night of gorging at the fair cracks me up. "In case you haven't noticed, there are over 8,000 eggs in that tiny little sac." "This HAS been a night!" HA!

The songs seem a little out of place at times, but on the whole, I still find this movie very enjoyable. It's not deep, it's not profound, it's a piece of mindless fluff, with some very nice performances from the voice actors and a lot of very cute moments. It's children's fare, folks, so just take it as such, and it's a lot easier to take. I liked it. So there.